In science classrooms, students usually see and work with data that's intended to tell them right away about the natural world. Students then often treat the data we provide to them as factual, rather than as a source of evidence (Duschl 2008; Sandoval and Millwood 2005; Berland and Reiser 2009; McNeill and Berland 2017; Hancock, Kaput, and…

Purpose: Writing is an essential skill that secondary students need to establish for success in their further education, careers, and lives. However, most secondary students in the United States do not achieve the level of writing proficiency expected to ensure academic and future success. One approach that is emerging more in the research…

This article aims to present a first approximation of the conceptual field of measures of central tendency (MCT), grounded in the theory of conceptual fields. We propose six situations according to type of variable, data presentation (raw or grouped) and amount of data. We revisit specific situations for the mean and exemplify several…

Background: New technology and increased collaboration have revolutionized how scientists work with data. This creates a need to identify new aspects of working with scientific data that are important for K-12 students to learn. Purpose: To address this need, we conducted a study with practicing scientists and K-12 science teachers. The purpose of…

One major challenge researchers have faced during the disruptions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic is how to adapt to the global virus and, at the same time, make good progress in their research pursuits. Also, many international researchers have suspended ongoing research in developing countries due to inadequate online facilities in these…

Research indicates that data-informed practice helps teachers change their teaching and promotes teacher professional development (TPD). Although educational data are often collected from digital spaces, in-action evidence from physical spaces is seldom gathered, providing an incomplete view of the classroom reality. Also, most learning analytics…

Science education focuses on the methods of thinking about and using process skills rather than memorizing scientific facts. 5E educational model aims to learn by discovering scientific knowledge and engaging students in learning environments. The aim of this study was to examine the articles in the field of education related to the 5E educational…

Improving educational practice through reflection is one important focus of teacher professional development approaches. However, such teacher reflection operates under practical classroom constraints that make it happen infrequently, including the reliance on disruptive peer/supervisor observations or recordings. This article describes three…

This paper contributes a theoretical framework informed by historical, philosophical and ethnographic studies of science practice to argue that data should be considered to be actively produced, rather than passively collected. We further argue that traditional school science laboratory investigations misconstrue the nature of data and overly…

In recent years, the use of student data has become increasingly concerned with management of teacher performance. However, when teachers become aware of specific student data directly related to their approach of teaching, it could inform them about possible strengths, weaknesses or challenges. Unfortunately, teachers generally have little time…

Nitrogen- or phosphorus-based fertilizers, used in agriculture, can run off into nearby waterways during periods of heavy rain or high flow and cause harmful blooms (Paerl et al. 2016), low oxygen (Joyce 2000), and decreased biodiversity (Sebens 1994). Studies of the effects wetlands can have on water and habitat quality (Verhoeven and Meuleman…

In an effort provide access to devices and prepare students for the future, a small rural high school committed to becoming a high-tech school. However, data collected using the IPI-T process suggested teachers were typically the users of the technology, students were often disengaged, and teachers were asking students to participate in…

Peter Dunn and Margaret Marshman present the second of their data files articles in which they discuss the statistical investigation cycle which describes the whole process of conducting a statistical research study. [For "The Data Files: A Series of Articles to Support Mathematics Teachers to Teach Statistics," see EJ1259108.]

Statistics education has the potential to assist students to develop their identities and engage in problems and social contexts that assist in empowering them to act politically in the future. The actions and narrative reported in this paper seek to identify the way in which teachers could develop and implement statistical inquiries that utilize…

Publicly-available datasets, though useful for education, are often constructed for purposes that are quite different from students' own. To investigate and model phenomena, then, students must learn how to repurpose the data. This paper reports on an emerging line of research that builds on work in data modeling, exploratory data analysis, and…